​Turn and churn: on caste count and next Census 

The Centre’s decision to include caste enumeration in the next national Census marks a sharp departure for the ruling BJP from its previous position. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in 2024 targeted the Congress election manifesto promise of a caste census as a reflection of its ‘urban Naxal’ thinking. During the general election last year, … Read more

Letters to The Editor — May 2, 2025

Census and caste The Narendra Modi government’s surprise decision to have a caste-based census in the middle of heightened tensions with Pakistan over the Pahalgam terror attack, and after fiercely opposing such a demand from the Opposition, only highlights the significance of caste dynamics in the electoral framework of Indian democracy. A caste census is … Read more

The impact of suspending a water treaty

In a strong measure against Pakistan, after terrorists from The Resistance Front killed 26 tourists in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s Cabinet Committee on Security decided that “the Indus Waters Treaty [IWT] of 1960 will be held in abeyance with immediate effect, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism”. This … Read more

Breathing life into Vembanad lake

A view of houseboats on Vembanad Lake in Alappuzha. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Vembanad, the longest lake in India and the largest in Kerala, is gasping for breath. The 96.5 km-long water body spans the districts of Alappuzha, Kottayam, and Ernakulam and forms part of the Vembanad-Kol wetland system, a Ramsar site. Six major … Read more

India’s shame — the trap of bonded labour

On May 1, as the world commemorates International Labour Day to honour the dignity of work and workers’ rights, the stories of millions in India trapped in bonded labour cast a dark shadow. In a quiet corner of Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, Mukesh Adivasi, 35, lies on a weathered charpoy, his once-robust frame now frail, his … Read more

From a rules-based world to shambolic disorder

Even prior to the Trump interlude in the United States, there were enough signs that the world was witnessing uncertainty across many sectors. This was a heralding of problematic conditions in many areas of the globe, and policymakers, strategists and business leaders had begun to prepare for more difficult times ahead. Some did, however, hew … Read more